The Secret of the Mysterious Secondhand Book
(That’s my attempt at a Nancy Drew-ish title, by the way.) Via Bookslut and LISNews: an article about the enigmatic and fascinating objects found in secondhand books. I once had an idea for a short story about a character who likes browsing for used books, and starts to find a lot of books that have all been owned by the same person (he can tell by the handwriting), and eventually pieces together an entire history based on this person’s marginalia, discarded train tickets used as bookmarks, jotted notes on stray pieces of paper, and so on. But, according to this article, other writers have had the same idea. Grumble.
The latest thing I found in a book were two rather ineffective attempts to write fantasy fiction. The comparison between them and the book they were in was not flattering. Maybe I’ll post them. Or send them to “Found Magazine.”
Usually, though, I just find things like business cards, old receipts, and library check-out lists.
Misc. links
[click for larger view] “Young Feminists Take on the Family,” the newest edition of webjournal The Scholar & Feminist…
I was obsessed with Nancy Drew and her blue convertible, the supposed “perfect” life. I’d like to see some of those so-called blogging feministe get a hold of that. But these days, you’d have to put a perfect “Ned” in the picture to captivate me.
On original ideas: well, there aren’t any, but I always get this thrill upon an initial conception, then a secondary rush when I find something to back it up, and then a bit of an “oh well” when I realize how late I am to the party.
But then, I’m not talking about creative writing. I’m not brave enough for that.
Mysterious Secondhand Blogs
Hosehold Opera hits on a great idea for a story, only to find that, yes, it’s been done before: I once had an idea for a short story about a character who likes browsing for used books, and starts to find a lot of books that have all been owned by the sam